The Literary Gardener
Experience Aromatic and Visual Delights on the Southern Oregon Lavender Trail – by Rhonda Nowak
With our warm, dry summers and mild winters, lavender (Lavandula) grows well in gardens in Southern Oregon; indeed, some local farmers have made lavender their principle crop. So it is that during the months of […]
May Blossoms at the Spring Garden Fair and the Bard’s Garden at Hanley Farm – by Rhonda Nowak
The Literary Gardener – May 2018
“On a day – alack the day! –
Love, whose month is ever May,
Spied a blossom passing fair
Playing in the wanton air.”
William Shakespeare, “Love’s Labor’s Lost,” Act IV, Scene 3
This scene […]
Labors of Love and a Shakespeare Knot Garden at Hanley Farm – by Rhonda Nowak
The Literary Gardener – March 2018
“It standeth north-north-east
and by east from the west corner of thy curious- knotted garden:
there did I see that low-spirited
swain, that base minnow of thy mirth…”
~William Shakespeare’s Love’s Labor’s Lost, Act […]
Grow Gardening Knowledge at the 2017 Winter Dreams Summer Gardens Symposium – by Rhonda Nowak
The Literary Gardener – November 2017
“Knowledge is like a garden; if it is not cultivated, it cannot be harvested.” ~African proverb
Gardening has provided me with lots of seasonal traditions, and one habit that I look […]
Oriental Lilies: Not As Fragile As You Think – by Rhonda Nowak
The Literary Gardener – October 2017
“Fresh tears stood on her cheeks as does the honeydew upon a gathered Lily almost withered.” ~William Shakespeare, “Titus Andronicus,” Act III, scene 1 (1594)
This passage makes it clear that […]
Stories and Gardening Tips Will Flourish at the Shakespeare Garden Tour – by Rhonda Nowak
The Literary Gardener – September 2017
“Be you in the park about midnight at Herne’s Oak, and you shall see wonders.”
– In William Shakespeare’s “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” 1597
I’ve mentioned before that every year Jerry […]
‘Hosta’ La Vista, August Heat! – by Rhonda Nowak
The Literary Gardener – August 2017
“The first week of August hangs at the very top of the summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when […]
Oh, What a Difference a Daylily Makes – by Rhonda Nowak
The Literary Gardener – June 2017
And those whose blossoms curl obliquely back,
Ribbed on the sides with a bright scarlet streak,
Shalt of daylily the fair name receive,
If one whose summer’s day the beauties live…
-Rene Rapin (1621-1687)
It’s […]
Are you going to the Spring Garden Fair? – by Rhonda Nowak
The Literary Gardener – May 2017
Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme
Remember me to one who lives there
She once was a true love of mine.
~ 19th century English ballad
Simon and Garfunkel […]
The Tulip’s Passionate Past – by Rhonda Nowak
The Literary Gardener – April 2017
My heart is smit
With love so strong
I must declare,
But have no tongue.
Come to my aid, Thou Tulip Red,
Go and declare
My love instead.
~ Mandy Kirby, A Victorian Flower Dictionary, 2011
Before beginning […]